Wk 33: Out of Focus

 Tonka Trucks could be defined as the essential and classic toy for every little boy.
We've had two of these trucks for awhile. Owen on occasion would fill them up with dirt and they have always been a necessary fixture on trips to the beach. But for whatever reason that little boy dump-truck bond always seemed to be lacking. Then a sweltering summer day in mid-August changed everything for the better.

It was after nap time, the boys had eaten their snack in the shade of our front steps and were ready to engage in the rhythms of constant motion this gorgeous Seattle summer afforded us every afternoon. Knowing that within moments of playing little beads of perspiration would form on Jesse's upper lip and not long after that they would both have sweat dripping down the sides of their faces, I stripped them of their shirts before sending them off into the grass to wrestle. Due to the heat, their enthusiasm for sticky skin-on-skin contact quickly waned so I plopped their Tonka trucks on to the hot pavement of our driveway. Owen, uninterested for the moment, left Jesse to his own devices with the shiny yellow trucks.

  Jesse quickly clamped a chubby hand on each side of the dump truck's bed and started with a quick trot down the slight slope of our driveway. Just like that he was hooked to the vibrations of metal and plastic rumbling beneath his tiny hands. Up and down, back and forth, trotting then pausing to rest in a perfect crouch, the bond between dump truck and boy strengthened. It only took a few moments for Owen to figure out what he was missing and he quickly grabbed the other truck and joined Jesse in his joyous journeys up and down the driveway and street.


45 glorious minutes of repetitive activity later sweat was streaming down the sides of the boys' faces. Tonka trucks by nature are covered in dirt so it was only fitting that the boys take them through a truck wash. It only took a few tentative moments before the boys were racing their trucks through the sweet cool water flowing from the hose I held up high.

(This was my picture of the week)